Twelve members of a wild horse herd from Alto may be returned Lincoln County and a temporary holding site on Fort Stanton Road as

early as Friday.

During a community meeting Tuesday, about 50 people voted to use 10 acres owned by advocate Shelley McAlister as a temporary site for a 21-day quarantine period and supporters agreed to allow the New Mexico Livestock Board to transport the horses back to the area where last month they were penned and then hauled away to Santa Fe.

The horses have been microchipped, but Teeatta Lippert and McAlister said that will be a good thing for their future, if the court eventually declares them wild. Then if any of the horses are picked up, they can be identified as from the herd and returned.

McAlister, Lippert and Melissa Babcock, who early in the situation managed to channel the emotional response of supporters into positive actions, prepared signup sheets for volunteers to help in various aspects of the care of the horses until the court case that resulted in a temporary restraining order against the sale of the equines is resolved. McAlister said she will need volunteers at 9:30 a.m. today (Wednesday) at her property at 384 Fort Stanton Road to improve fencing, install water troughs and till up the ground. She already has pens, which will make any dispensing of medication easier. The horses will be fed, because there is no pasture. But once the quarantine expires, advocates hope to move the animals to a larger pasture area and and are looking for a suitable offer of property with fencing.

District Court Judge Dan Bryant last week issued a temporary restraining order to stop the sale of the horses and urged a return of the herd to Lincoln County pending the outcome of a lawsuit to determine their status as estray or wild.

“With Judge Bryant’s ruling, the bid process has stopped,” William Bunce, livestock board executive director, said Monday. “The horses are fine, and discussions regarding acceptance of the horses by others are occurring.”

We didn’t know if they would make contact with us directly or through attorneys, but he called Shelley McAlister,” Babcock said Monday. The two women were among the first to organize efforts to save the horses and to focus attention on providing a safe refuge for them, if needed. “Per the judge’s encouragement, they have agreed to release the horses to someone in Ruidoso. There are some stipulations to that agreement, which is kind of what we said at the beginning of the (public) meeting (Aug. 29). They have to be kept together per the judge’s order. But the livestock board’s conditions are obviously, we can’t just let them loose.

“They have to remained penned. There is a quarantine period. They are supposed to be faxing us the conditions, but one is a quarantine. What we were wanting to do was let everyone know that, and that the livestock board has asked people to stop calling. We want to let people know that’s kind of where we are until it goes through court.”

Group members find themselves almost at the point they were with the horses and livestock board on Aug. 29, when livestock board officials indicated McAlister or some other landowner with appropriate property could take custody of the horses, she said.

“We want people to feel the decision is everyone’s decision,” Babcock said. “Shelley has 10 acres, but wherever we put them first, they definitely have to stay for the quarantine period. Then if there is someone else in the community with more land, but keep in mind, it is not just a matter of saying you can use my land. You have to take legal responsibility for them and it is a huge deal. One of the conditions from the livestock board is that it can’t just be someone with land, it has to be someone with land and experience with horses.”

Babcock and McAlister want to brief supporters and see who may step forward with an offer of land, she said.

“Shelley is fine with them staying there, but she doesn’t want people to think she’s the one who gets to make that decision,” Babcock said. “We don’t want anyone to think it was just the committee of six that was making all the decisions. We want to make sure people feel like they have a say and opinion. There are some things we can’t change and their opinion wouldn’t change, such as (the horses) must be kept. They cannot be turned loose.”

Money still is being raised to cover veterinary bills, food and other upkeep of the herd until the court renders a decision. The livestock board didn’t mention a minimum acreage size, she said.

“We’re open for people to make suggestions,” she said of the move after quarantine. “Forty acres would be nice, because we need as much secure space as possible to keep them in an environment that feels wild, so when we win this, they will be ready to bring them back to where they were picked up or close by and release them.”

Herd advocates don’t want to foster dependence on humans any more than absolutely necessary, she said.

One of the advantages of staying on McAlister’s 10 acres is that it is in Alto and there’s a possibility the stallion, Big Boss, may find his mares, Babcock said. “We’ve had (offers of land) from Nogal and all over,” she said. “That’s great, but being somewhat close would be nice for feeding.”